Autoplane



2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. B. ILLGEN.

AUTOPLANE.

man JAN. 2. 17920.

Feb. 20, 1923.

lPatented Feb.. 20, .1923..4

,. UNITED STATES yRUDOLPH B. ILLGEN, OF lDIES MOINES, IOW.

PATENT o AUTOPLANE.

Application led January 2 vantages of both aeroplane and auto-mobile transportation.

A further object of'` my invention is to provide an auto-plane designed to present the impression of being constructed along the lines of an' aeroplane, which also may be driven and controlled as an automobile is driven and controlled.

-Still a further objectof my invention is to provide a combined structure designed in accordance with the design of a fuselage of an aeroplane and providedpwith ground wheels whereby the device may be driven and steered over vthe ground, in combination with planes and rudde-rs whereby the device may be partially carried and steered by the resistance ofthe air. Y

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a fuselage structure mounted' upon powerl driven wheels at the forward portion ofthe fuselage, while the rear portion of the fuselage is either carrled by a steerable ground wheel or lifted from the ground by the resistance of the air agalnst planes, dueto the lforward motion of the machine, andstee-red by an aeroplane rudder.

Still a further object is to provide means whereby the steering wheel and rudder may be simultaneously controlled so that the ma-v chine may be steered'whether the rear end is being .carried by the yground Wheel or supported by theair. u f I Still a further object of my invention 1s to provide an adjustable plane designedto control thelift exerted against the rear end lof the body relative tothe speed of the machine, so that little effort may be required of the operator to control the elevation pf the rear portion of the device: .t

Still a further object of my invention -1s to provide a transmission gearing and connection such that the engines, clutch and transmission mechanism now 1n` general use 1n 1920. serial no.l 349,047.

automobiles may be used, with but little change, for drivlng my improved machine.

Still a further object is to provide. a movable cover member for the fuselage. structure, designed to permit ready entry into the fuselage, and which may be readily'moved to position to protect the driver of themachine. r v

With these and other objects in vie-w,l my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various n y1,445,953 FFICE.) i

parts of'my device, whereby the objects contemplated 'are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims,

and illustra-ted in the accompanying ldrawings, in which Figure 1 shows a side elevation of my im-A proved device.'

Figure. 2 shows a top or same.y

.Figure 3l shows a vertical,fcentral,.sec-l tional view.

4Figure 4 shows through. the `fuselage of the device, taken onthe line 4--4 of FigureB. Figure 5 shows adetail view oftheelevatin and steering controlling mechanism.

a horizontal sectional view I igure 6 shows a detail View of sportien l ofthe parts shown. in Figure 5.

Figure 7 shows a side elevation of the supporting bracket.' for the controlling device shown in Figure :5.1 v l Figure-8 ,is an end elevation of the parts shown in Figure 7;]

Figure 9 1s -awdetail view, 'parts' shown in section,v` ofthe spring fork in the rear wheellis mounted.` i .l Figure. 10 is a side elevation of the bracke which supports the rea' y,wheel Figure 11 is a topik 561i" `plan view'. parts shown in Figui, 10; and y. v M n l Figure 12v is -a detall of for the cover of 'my machine. y

Referring to the 'accompanying drawings,

I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate generally the/body` or fuselage of a' .iatchiagdevie my device, which is yprovided with a hood v 11 and radiator 12 'at the forward end there-- of. The fuselage 10 comprises an elongated body having its greatest crossesectional area' slightly forward of the central portion thereof, and the remaining portion ofthe body is'streamline or contracted toward@l I -1 i of the body the ends.'l y

Adjacent tothe forward en d 10 an axle 13 ,is supported by means of Wheels 14, and carries the vweight of the body structure-on suitable springs 15.

Above theaxle v13 and somewhat forward thereof, an internal combustion engine 16, of any suitable type, is mounted, and the dri-ve shaft thereof extends rearwardly to y the transmission housing 17. A clutch device 18, controlled by a pedal 19` of ordinary` construction, is provided. The transmis;

sion gearing is similar to that used in automobiles, vand is controlled by -a lever 20 to regulate the relative speed of the drive shaft and the engine. A drive shaft 21 extendsV from the transmission gearing 17 to V"is provided, having forked .ends 27 and 28 designed to receive and be secured to the rear end of the fuselage.

Aut fthe rear end of the bracket 26 a bearing member 29...is provided, designed to reand rearwardly. At the rear end of the` thereto, onja horizontal axis. king post 42 is`secured to. eachl of the ele-l vet celve a shaft 30Iwhich is connected to a pair of lspring 'forks 31. rlhe s haft30 is p rovidedl with an enlarged portion 32 designed to coact with aspring 33 and a flange 34 in the bearing 29 to permit vertical reeiprocation of the shaft 30 lagainst the g fflyielding resistance of' the spring 33.

rllhe spring forks 31 have 'a bearing 35 at the lower end thereof, designed to receive awheel 36':

A. transverse rod 37l is fixed adjacent to the upper end of the shaft 30, and projects laterallyin either direction from the shaft. x

Above the bearing 29 a rudder 38 .is also fixed to the shaft 30, and extends rearwardly therefrom.

Forwardly from the shafty 30 and above the body 10, atail plane 39 is mounted. On either -side of the.tail plane 39 horizontal fins 40 extend laterallyv from the body 10 and are" preferably inclined downwardly horizontal fins 40 eleva-,tors 41'are pivoted A pylon or vators 41, and extends vertically in either direction therefrom. i

Within the cabin, adjacent to the operators seat25, brackets 43 are secured to the floorv of the cabin and extendy upwardly therefrom.` The brackets 43 have a shaft V44 extended therebetween vadjacent to' their upper ends, and a lever or joy stick 45 is pivotally mounted onl the shaft 44.

At the upper end of the lever '45 spaced brackets 46 pivotally ,support a steering wheel 47 which hasit-'s axis longitudinal axis of the body.

A control-wire or vcable '48. is extended around the steering wheel 47 and frictionally engages the periphery thereof, and is i extended therefrom to the cross rod 37. The control wire- 48 is crossedV over a pulley 49 which is pivotally mounted in the lever 45 just below the-'steering wheel 47, and thenextended over pulleys 50 to either end of the cross rod 37, so that when either side parallel to the i of thesteering wheel 47 is moved downwardly, the rudder 38 or steering wheel 36 will be moved to position to turn the machine toward the side of the wheel 47 which is' then being moved downwardly.

Control wires 51 are secured tothe lower ends of the pylons 42, and wires 53 dare secured to the upper ends of the pylons 42 and Y. extended through openings 54 in the body 10, overC pulleys 55 toposition slightly forward of the lever 45, whe'ie they pass around a pulley 56 which .is pivotally mounted in thebracket 57 which is fixed to any suitable portion of the body 10;

The control wires 51V from each yof the pylons 42l are joined intovthe common wire f 58 adjacent to the lever 45, and vthe upper portion of the wire 58, as shown in Figure 5, is fastened to the lower end of the lever 45.

From the description of the parts heretofore. mentioned,-it will beseen that move-J directionv indicated by the arrow in Figure 5. This effects a dropping or lowering of the rear end of the elevators 41, so that forward-` progress of the machine over the ground will cause 'the resistance of the air to exert a lift again'sttherear end of the fuselage or body 10. The force of this lift may be controlledv by the operator by movement of the elevators 41, and is also dependent upon the speed of the machine over' the ground. a

Rotation of the steering wheel 47 in any of the positions of the lever 45 causes movement of the control wire 48 to swing'therudder 38 and wheel 36 on the axis of the shaft 30fera` steerm the device, whether the rear end'of."

ment-ofy the 4lever-45 ftoward the operator` has the effect of moving the wire 58 in the preferably there are two of-the supports 61 and butone vertical adjustment by `any suitable means, as by bem received in a casting 62 and be- '1ng provi ed with a plurality of spaced openmgs 63 designed to receive a bolt or s/upport 60. The 'support 60 is arranged for i other vfastening means 64. On account of thepivotal movement of the plane 59 on the 'fittings at the end ofthe supports or struts 61, the support or strut 60 is somewhat loosely received in the casting 62 to permit the necessary pivotal movement to compensate for the swinging of the plane 59.

A swinging cover member 65 is provided for the cabin 23, as in the preferred form of my fuselage the height between the floor and the ceiling of the cabin would be insuiiicient to permit the driver or passengers to stand up. For this reason the cover member 65 is provided with a hinge .66 and suitable springs or 'a counter-balancing weight, so that it will normally yieldingly swing up to an angle of approximately degrees relative to'thefuselage or body structure.

-Locking means are provided for latching the cover member 65 against the body, and preferably designed to coact with the latch for the cabin doors 67, so that when either door is opened the cover member 65' will swing toits upper position. In Figure .1 2 I have shown one form of such a latch,where` in the bar 68, turned by movement of the door handle, is provided with an upwardly inclined arm 69. The cover member 65 is provided with a transverse shaft, not shown, having arms 70 at either end, with latch members 71 formed at the bottom thereof.

Coacting latchin members 72 are formed on V'door handle isrevol'ved to unlatch the door 67, the arm will be moved to releasg the latch 71' fromengagementjwith the latch 72, thereby releasing the cover member 65 to permit 40' it to swing to its upper position. 'As the arms 70 are connected toa common trans-.

' verse shaft, the latch members at both sides cent to the wheels, I provide relatively small .planes 76 at either side, which act as mud of the-cabin will be releasedsimultaneously f, when either door is opened, to thereby perlmit the cover member to swing upwardly.

' When the operator has entered the-cabin he may then rasp any convenient part of the cover mem er to pull it down to positionjwhere ,the latch members will lock it from. upward movement.

I preferably provide the coyer member 65 with a periscope 75 so that the driver of the vehicle may glance at the periscope to see the road or ground in the rear of the vehicle.

At the forward end of the fuselage, adjaguards for the Wheels and also tend to lift the body orfuselage member. y

In the practical operation of my improved device the parts are assembled and arranged' as heretofore described. The operator when enteringv the car, by opening the door at either side releases the cover member 65 sov that it may swing to itsl upper position, and

when he and the passengers, if any, have entered, pulls downthe cover member to the position shown in the full lines in lFigure 3.

The driving mechanism is theny operated 'in the manner which is common to all automoving the lever 45 to control the angle of incidence of the elevators ,41.

Vhen. the rear wheel 36 has beenA lifted clear of the ground, mov'ement'of the rudder 38, together with the resistance of'the air due tothe forward motion of the machine, enables the operator to steer the 'machine ,in a manner similar to that in which an aeroplane is steered.

y The' strut 6() yisv adjustable, so that the normal lift of the machine at an'average speed may be substantially fil/:ed by the adjustment of the-vertical height of the strut 60.

I have so designed my vehicle that approximately ten per cent of the dead load is carried by the planes at the rear of the fuselage, -but this proportion may be varied.`Yr

The greater portion of the liveload, it' will be noted, will also be carried'by the pla-nes when the machine is moving at an average speed, and the adjustment of the plane 59'` may be varied to compensate for-increased weight of passengers,`if desired. i

An advantage of the construction of my improved autoplane resides lin the factthat a considerable portion ofthe weight of the machine4 is carried by the lift exerted on the planes bythe air, due to the forward motion of the machine, whereby' a considerable percentage ofthe jars-due to irregularities in the road over which the machine is passing, may be eliminated. This is especially true, as only one pair of wheels contact with the road when the machine is traveling at an ordlnary rate of speed, so'that any irregular- 1ty'in the surface of the road will cause but I asingle jar tothe machine, whereas with a" four-wheeled vehicle/the same jar is tra-nsmitted to the machine from both pairs of wheels as they pass over the irregularity. The planes 76 at the forward end. of the fuselage tend to carry a predetermined portion of the weight of the body, due to the resistance of the air and its consequent lift, .125

thereby lessening the effect of irregularities in the road which would be imparted to the body from the wheels 14:.

The plane 59 also exerts some lift n the front portion of the body or fuselage.

,aga

Throughout the machine the stream-line effect which has been found successful in reducing air vresistance building aeroplanes, has been used-1n order to decrease the resistance ofthe air to the forward movement of the body of my improved vehicle. v 'Y Some changes may be' made in the construction and, arrangement ofthe various parts of my--device, without departing from the essential features-,and purposes of my linvention, and it is my intention to ycover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which i, may be reasonably included within their operating saidrudder and steer-able wheel, planes on said vehicle adjacent to said steerv able wheel, having adjustable elevator members, carrying planes projecting laterally 25 v fr/om thebody ofsaid vehicle near the front `end thereof andl adapted to form mud-guards for the driven wheels, a plane above said body, a rigid support forv the forward portion'of'sald last plane, a support for the 30 I Y rearward'portion of said last planeadjustable up and down, and means for securing lsaid lastsupport invarious positions of its adjustment.

2. In a'machine body, front ldriven wheels for said body, a

vertically arranged, rotatably mounted shaft at the rear end of said body, a rudder fixed to. said shaft, said shaft being mounted `for i yielding vertical movement with relation to 40 lsaid body, spring ams projecting downwardly from'. said shaft, and a vwheel sup-l ported between said spring arms, means for imparting limited rotation to said Shaft for simultaneously steering said wheel and op 45' erating said rudder. y

Des Moines, Iowa, March 11,- 1919,.

. v @RUDOLPH -B,-ILLGEN.

of the class described, a 35' 

